Seven weeks ago, Dwight Richards stood in a coat and tie at a busy Stockton intersection displaying a placard advising he needed a job.

Wednesday night, he held up another oversized piece of paper, only this time on a stage in the Stockton Golf & Country Club ballroom, and it was one of those ceremonial checks declaring he'd received $7,000 in cash and more than $7,000 worth of business services as the winner of the San Joaquin Entrepreneur Challenge.

The prize should help the Stockton resident build a business around The Mark, a device he's developed for truckers to quickly adjust their trailer-axle settings.

"It's an absolute start. It can give me a really good solid start," Richards said of his winnings. He also praised the contest itself - a live-action version of "American Idol" for would-be business owners.

"The contest, the services they made available really made me take it further."

And that was the whole concept, said Mark Plovnick, economic development director at University of the Pacific. The challenge, promising $20,000 in cash and services, would encourage people who have business ideas to take the first steps toward making them real.

"Hopefully, it'll generate some increased business activity for our area," he said.

It certainly generated a good deal of interest.

More than 75 applicants submitted basic business plans. A first round of competition March 10 saw 20 of those entrants further hone their ideas as each offered two-minute pitches to a panel of judges and live audience.

Eight would-be entrepreneurs started out Wednesday evening, giving five minutes to further refine and present their business models. And four of those then had to face a final business challenge, a sort of oral exam before a room of about 170 people.

Jeff Daugherty, another Stockton resident and developer of FlagMate, an automatic safety flag system for water skiers and boarders, was named runner-up, good enough for $3,000 and more than $3,000 in business services.

"We're going to take this money, and we're going to do the necessary things we need to do to get this thing in the market," Daugherty promised.

And while only two walked away with prizes, other businesses seem sure to arise from among the crop of contestants, said Leon Churchill, the city manager of Tracy and one of five judges.

"I'm glad entrepreneurship is alive and well," he said.

Organizers hope to hold a second Entrepreneur Challenge next year, but there's a similar contest for San Joaquin County residents 25 and younger and area college or high school students, planned for later this month.

A total of $1,000 will be awarded to four participants. For information, go to studentchallenge.eventbrite.com.